Federer Breezes Past Wawrinka in Indian Wells

The Swiss number 1 cruised through 6-3, 6-4 to move into Round 4

Roger Federer is through to round four at the BNP Paribas Open, needing just 59 minutes to defeat fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4.

Hours after the draw was blown wide open thanks to Philipp Kohlschreiber recording only his second win against Novak Djokovic. Roger is now arguably joint-favourite with Rafael Nadal for another title at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The win sees the Swiss improve to 62 – 12 in the desert and maintain his unbeaten record against Wawrinka on hard courts which is now 17 – 0. He'll next face Kyle Edmund who has dropped just eight games in his first two matches.

Quick Match Recap

Stan won the toss and elected to receive, winning the first point before Roger reeled off the next four to hold for 1-0. A hold to thirty then got Stan on the board but in game four Roger fashioned two break points at 15-40 and another at deuce but couldn't convert as Wawrinka held for 2-2.

A steady hold put Fed up 3-2 and Wawrinka followed that up with a disaster game, make a string of errors when rushed on the baseline to drop serve to love. Roger consolidated to fifteen for 5-2 and soon bagged the opening set 6-3, winning 7 of 13 points of the net and putting Wawrinka under pressure which saw him commit 13 unforced errors.

Into set two and the Stanimal held to fifteen to get on the board. Roger quickly levelled to love and then got the all-important break to really dampen Wawrinka's spirits. At the changeover, the trainer appeared on court for Wawrinka but he sent him back saying he was no longer required.

Upon resumption, Roger held to love for 3-1 and had so far looked untroubled on serve. That changed in game six where Wawrinka finally had some inroads but he couldn't take advantage of Federer only landing one first serve in the game.

4-2 quickly became 5-3 and after Stan held for 4-5 it was up to Roger to serve it out which he did with aplomb, coming up with a ridiculous pickup volley to serve it out to love to win through in 59 minutes.

Match Stats

Match Statistics

Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer

Aces

8

4

Double Faults

1

0

1st Serve

73% (37/51)

68% (34/50)

1st Serve Points Won

59% (22/37)

82% (28/34)

2nd Serve Points Won

71% (10/14)

75% (12/16)

Break Points Saved

67% (4/6)

0% (0/0)

Service Games Played

9

10

1st Return Points Won

18% (6/34)

41% (15/37)

2nd Return Points Won

25% (4/16)

29% (4/14)

Break Points Won

0% (0/0)

33% (2/6)

Return Games Played

10

9

Winners

18

12

Unforced Errors

21

9

Net Points Won

50% (5/10)

63% (15/24)

Total Service Points Won

63% (32/51)

80% (40/50)

Total Return Points Won

20% (10/50)

37% (19/51)

Total Points Won

42% (42/101)

58% (59/101)

Highlights

Press Conference

Thoughts on the Match

I think I felt good from the beginning. The breeze picked up a little bit for the evening, I thought, but I didn't feel like it had that much of a play in it. I think for me the plan worked. I was able to mix up my game, cover my serve, be dangerous on the return. Maybe take some rhythm away from Stan, like I always try to do, but you can't always make it work.

A solid match here for Roger who again played well from the word go. Nice variety, early ball striking and he had a good read on Stan's serve which saw him put a lot of balls in play. In fact, he returned 90% of all Stan's serve in the match which put him under constant pressure.

He also realised Stan wasn't feeling great in the legs early doors after his tough matches against Evans and Fucsovics respectively. That saw him bring out the drop shot similar to how he used it in the Coric match in Dubai which zapped even more energy from Wawrinka. Smart thinking.

Stan did show some signs of life in the second set in game six where he teed off on some balls but didn't have the rhythm or patience to really build the point so never really had much of a sniff of getting back into it and was unable to create a single break point on the night.

So plain sailing, just 59 minutes on court which is ideal ahead of today's fourth round which is earlier in the day and he looks to be striking the ball in what are tough conditions. Job done 🙂

Predictions vs. Edmund

Next up is Kyle Edmund who continued his solid run in the desert with a straight sets win over Radu Albot. Edmund won the Indian Wells Challenger last week so it's no surprise to see him come through his first two matches here given he's familiar with the conditions and full of confidence.

Roger has never played the Brit but he's practised with him a few times at the Laver Cup and at this years Australian Open so he'll know his game reasonably well.

Of course, matches are a different kettle of fish but there aren't going to be too many secrets in this matchup, Roger will have to look to force the issue and rush Edmund for the baseline otherwise he'll be on the end of the Edmund forehand which is a huge weapon.

I think this will be a good match as it's going to be Federer's ability to take it early, his fleet of foot and variety against Edmund's raw power. Picking the Swiss to come through but could be a three setter.

What were your thoughts on the match against Wawrinka? Predictions vs. Edmund? Let me know in the comments.

Federer vs Wawrinka Indian Wells 2019 Rating

Serving

Returning

Net Play

Winner to Unforced Error Ratio

Break Point Conversion

CRUISING

Crisp ball striking and a great variety from start to finish from Federer. Served well and read the Wawrinka serve to cause his fellow Swiss a lot of problems.

Huge fan of Roger Federer. I watch all his matches from Grand Slam level right down to ATP 250. When I'm not watching or tweeting about tennis I play regularly myself and use this blog to share my thoughts on Federer and tennis in general.

Middle of the night here so couldn’t watch😢but was never in much doubt about the outcome.It sounds as though Fed
played really well.
As for Kyle Edmund I haven’t seen him play much but Fed needs to keep away from his forehand.Apart from that I don’t
think Edmund has the shots or variety to trouble Fed overmuch.I am going for Fed in two,possibly a tiebreak if Fed has
another wobbly second set.

Good match under windy conditions, manage to get under Stan’s skin by mixing things up. Top draw is now wide open, only left Nadal between him and IW title. Hope Roger remain focus against Edmund. Day time match conditions will be faster, lets do this baby

Kyle has been doing very well in his matches thus far – but then the competition hasn’t exactly been stellar, so I’ve no idea how well he’s playing.

Such a shame Roger and Rafa are on the same side of the draw, now Novak’s out: people were already complaining that he had a cakewalk to the final, so the question is: who’s going to be the other finalist?

Thiem is playing well,I believe unless he gets blown off the court by Karlovic.I would like it to be Koli,
but Monfils is in his way.Its pretty open really.That is good,can be rather boring always knowing who is going to make the final,unless it is Fed of course😉

Federer looked crisp and there were some really interesting rallies, net play (in fact Wawrinka won more of those I think). But in the end Federer was too good, it wasn’t like Wawrinka just hit the ball long every point. I think Jonathan said it exactly right, Wawrinka just lacked the patience to slowly build up the point to a point where he just crushes it like it was 2015 again. Wish he had been on Nadal’s quarter of the draw.

Roger played really well. Defended well when he needed to and nice to see him with a low UFE stat. Power hitters always have a chance against Roger as he gets older, but I think he will come through in straights today. Nice to see Djokovic lose a match. Amazing play by Kohli. Hope he make the finals from that half.

Excellent result and even more excellent write-up! It was worth breaking up my beauty sleep to join the chat in the bed at 4am to find out how Fed was doing. Already a disturbing night anyway thinking about his match.
Enjoyed the highlights, thanks Jonathan.

A Federesque match yesterday !
I would have liked to be a little mouse hidden in a corner during Fed’s Winter training season to see which specific exercises he did this year : the result shows he is so quick on his legs ! Adding this velocity to his everlasting reflexes at the net and we can only enjoy. Pure class… The same tonight, please !
And Belinda is on fire too ! Those two could be a great team at the Tokyo Olympics…

Yes I think so too that something has one on in prep training. The Hopman, the AO until Tsitsi, the Dhubai and now – he looks sharp and confident in most of it. And the decision of clay-play, too.
And what happened to Belinda also, all of a sudden dominant prevailing – so far –
Yea agree, would dream of and be nice for the Swiss to have those 2 to team in Tokyo

Well Fed wiped the floor with Edmund there!
Very pleased to see that the great God Thor wiped Isner off the court also.So Nadal has a tricky match next😊
As for Fed,very confident body language throughout.

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peRFect Tennis started back in May 2011 because I wanted to be able to share my thoughts on Tennis, and on my favourite player Roger Federer. Since then it’s gone on to be the number one blog for tennis and Federer fans to share their views on the game.

I first took notice of Fed back in 2001 when he beat Sampras at Wimbledon. Back then, like most Brits I was a Henman fan, clinging onto the belief he could still win Wimbledon.In fact, I was actually glad Tim beat Roger at Wimbledon that year!

Ever since then though, I’ve followed Federer’s career closely, been lucky enough to see him play live on several occasions and now use this blog to analyse matches, make predictions, and share everything and anything Federer related.

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